On Finding the Right Candidate for Your Customer Case Study

On Finding the Right Candidate for Your Customer Case Study

Looking for the perfect customer?

Here’s an experiment: Ask someone to describe his or her perfect date. Then take a quick side-glance at who they’re actually with. Fingers crossed you’ll find a few overlaps, but chances are good you’ll see some discrepancies. When planning a customer case study, you might find yourself wondering how to snag the perfect candidate. Imagining this ideal customer is not difficult: large company, well-known brand, long track record of using your products. But face it, your dream customer may not exist. Or you just might not be able to get a blue chip client to agree to a customer interview.

Expand your horizons

Don’t despair. Take a step back and open your mind to new possibilities. Then give some thought to criteria you may not have considered before:

Are you the customer of one of your customers?

This one couldn’t be simpler: Offer to do a customer case study for them in exchange for them doing one for you.

Do you have a client who regularly interacts with their customer service rep?

Here at Metlwater, we have one happy customer who checks in with their rep at least once a week. Make the most of this existing relationship and ask the rep to set up an interview.

Has a customer recently mentioned you in a news article or on social media?

They’re already talking about you, and they probably have more to say. To keep up with your news and social media shout outs, you’ll want a social listening tool, like the one in Meltwater’s media intelligence platform.

Do you have a customer that uses every single one of your products?

They must really like you. Ask them for a customer case study.

Do you have a customer that falls into a particular vertical?

Get them to represent, and promote the story as being as much about them as it is about their market.

What about that niche customer who’s doing something that no one’s ever heard of?

Keep your eye out for innovation. Along with a great customer case study, this story could be pitched by your PR team for media coverage or even syndication.

So when you’re browsing through your customer list, take some time to ask yourself these questions. You might find out that your perfect customer isn’t who you thought it was after all.

On Finding the Right Candidate for Your Customer Case Study was last modified: April 9th, 2015 by Yariv Rabinovitch